A National Press Club Speech On the Rule of Law & Soft Power

A National Press Club Speech On the Rule of Law & Soft Power

Whenever I walk the
halls of the National Press Club (NPC), especially the 13th floor, where the
restaurants and conference rooms are, it always takes my breath away. Hundreds
if not thousands of photographs adorn the walls, including presidents and prime
ministers, newsmakers all. There’s Ernie Pyle, the World War II photographer,
who died with his doughboys on Ie Island near Okinawa, who truly brought the
war home; Bill Clinton all alone and deep in troubled thought, standing between
the White House’s neoclassical portico columns; Desmond Tutu captured up-close
in a moment of his infectious joy and humanity; Barbara Bush with her own
infectious smile; a paraplegic Christopher Reeve still smiling, and the
faces of so many caught at the moment of rescue or defeat. It’s its own time
capsule.

I’ve
spoken before at the NPC, but this was the first time I was alone on stage, to
kick off the National Press Club’s 2019 Communications Summit, which featured
Mike McCurry, the White House press secretary under President Clinton.
Regardless of all the things we do in this life, sometimes we still need to
pinch ourselves.

I was
asked to speak about the implications for communicators when legal issues
affecting the industry are in flux or evolving. I covered specific statutes
such as FARA and the FCPA, as well as broader issues such as the #MeToo
movement, employee empowerment, privacy and the Rule of
Law.

To me,
the most interesting issue is soft power –
the ability of elected officials and executives to get countries, institutions
and people to follow their lead by example. George Washington is often praised
for his leadership, but few of us focus on his larger-than-life soft power.
Designing the first military uniforms of a new nation to help make our
Continental Army look like an army; going to churches, temples and
mosques regularly despite his ambivalence about religion; forgoing his wealth
and privilege to help form a new nation. In this age of disruption, rather than
think with scarcity (“where’s mine?”), job number one is to look in the mirror
and reflect how we lead, regardless of where we think we are in the power
dynamic. We all have soft power, majority and minority, employer and employee,
leader and follower. What we do next matters.

A National Press Club Speech On the Rule of Law & Soft Power

Whenever I walk the
halls of the National Press Club (NPC), especially the 13th floor, where the
restaurants and conference rooms are, it always takes my breath away. Hundreds
if not thousands of photographs adorn the walls, including presidents and prime
ministers, newsmakers all. There’s Ernie Pyle, the World War II photographer,
who died with his doughboys on Ie Island near Okinawa, who truly brought the
war home; Bill Clinton all alone and deep in troubled thought, standing between
the White House’s neoclassical portico columns; Desmond Tutu captured up-close
in a moment of his infectious joy and humanity; Barbara Bush with her own
infectious smile; a paraplegic Christopher Reeve still smiling, and the
faces of so many caught at the moment of rescue or defeat. It’s its own time
capsule.

I’ve
spoken before at the NPC, but this was the first time I was alone on stage, to
kick off the National Press Club’s 2019 Communications Summit, which featured
Mike McCurry, the White House press secretary under President Clinton.
Regardless of all the things we do in this life, sometimes we still need to
pinch ourselves.

I was
asked to speak about the implications for communicators when legal issues
affecting the industry are in flux or evolving. I covered specific statutes
such as FARA and the FCPA, as well as broader issues such as the #MeToo
movement, employee empowerment, privacy and the Rule of
Law.

To me,
the most interesting issue is soft power –
the ability of elected officials and executives to get countries, institutions
and people to follow their lead by example. George Washington is often praised
for his leadership, but few of us focus on his larger-than-life soft power.
Designing the first military uniforms of a new nation to help make our
Continental Army look like an army; going to churches, temples and
mosques regularly despite his ambivalence about religion; forgoing his wealth
and privilege to help form a new nation. In this age of disruption, rather than
think with scarcity (“where’s mine?”), job number one is to look in the mirror
and reflect how we lead, regardless of where we think we are in the power
dynamic. We all have soft power, majority and minority, employer and employee,
leader and follower. What we do next matters.